Klava D.'s Reviews

Great movie! Saw this one in the movie theater 3 times over the summer, and loved it every time. Chris Evans does not disappoint - a regular guy who is also fearless and ready to stand up for what's right. A little over the top, which is to be expected considering this movie is based on a series of comic books by Joe Simon, and were set in the 1940's, but the movie overall is very entertaining and great for a whole family.

Watched this movie when it first came out and love watching it on cable. This is one twisted caper that's full of jokes and PG rated puns. Although I don't usually like Steve Carell's comedy, this one's a keeper, a really funny comedy that's great for the whole family. Highly recommended this movie, even for the little ones, with the ultimate message that family is more important that even the evilest of plots.

This movie is one of the best that Lindsay Lohan made, and is a fun adventure that is very fast and hectic. Lohan's Anna seems like a caricature of an indulgent, impossible teen, unless you actually have a teen of your own, that is, and have to survive every day with a tantrum that couldn't touch a 2-year-old's! If you really liked the original Freaky Friday movie with Jodie Foster, this is a very different movie, and you probably won't like this one, but if you are looking for a way to spend a couple of light-hearted hours laughing, this movie is great, and Jamie Lee Curtis is really great in this, although Mark Harmon is very stiff and plays a mannequin.

Really excellent movie, and Noomi Rapace did a really good job capturing the character of Lisbeth. I made sure to read the book before watching the movie, so I noticed right away that there are some differences in the storyline, but the movie is very good in its own right.

A bit of warning though, like the book, it's very hard to watch some scenes because of the extreme violence and this movie is definitely meant for mature audiences only.

This movie takes place in Alaska, and was actually filmed in British Columbia. The main character is played by Liam Neeson, a hunter who is hired by an oil company he works for to protect the company's workers that are working on the pipeline from wild animals, specifically wolves. This movie revolves around a plane crash and the few survivors' attempt to reach safety under very treacherous conditions and under constant threat from the wilds.

I started out not liking this movie, but it gripped me and held my attention throughout the movie. Just a tip - if you decide to watch this movie, make sure you stay until the very end of the credits because otherwise you'll miss something.

Fantastic movie that's great for everyone! This animated movie is not your usual Disney fare - it's a very different story from the book by Cressida Cowell by the same name, but it is still up to the same standard. Essentially it is a story of a boy who feels like an outcast in his own village because he is clumsy, overimaginative and causes accidents that not even his father, the village leader, can fix.

Without giving away the story, I'll just say that it is very nicely developed and the graphics are very nice. This is one great family movie that I would definitely recommend.

My whole family has a special place for this kid-friendly movie that is based on Cressida Cowell's series of kids' books of the same name. To start off, the movie is virtually nothing like the books, in that the story revolves around Hiccup, a klutzy Viking boy, his father, village chief Stoick the Vast, and a girl he likes, Astrid and most importantly Toothless, a dragon he attempts to kill and later befriends, who looks so much like a black cat it's endearing!

This animated movie begins with a narration by Hiccup about his village, and about how dreadful life is there, especially due to the pest problem - dragons! It seems the only reason these Vikings haven't abandoned this gloomy area is because of their stubbornness issues. As the story evolves, the friendship between Hiccup and Toothless (who doesn't quite live up to that name!) becomes stronger, and they both discover the truth about dragons and why they are such big nuisance, and they both team up to keep the village safe and to free the dragons from tyrrany.

Overall this is a great story that will appeal to all age groups, and the animation is superb, with wonderful music throughout! I would highly recommend this movie!

Love this movie! Despite the profusion of promos depicting fighting with giant beasts and 7-foot tall aliens with husks on the sides of their faces, this movie is actually at its heart a tale of a man who's lost everything while courageously battling for his country, who becomes disillusioned with war and suffering and who just wants to be left alone. But the circumstances of his encounters, first with American Indians, then with a mysterious race of immortal beings propels him to Mars, where he finds himself in the middle of a massive battle for Mars.

There, John Carter - who is a shell of a man emotionally, falls in love with a courageous princess who defies the force that seems to be unstoppable in its quest to take over Mars, and who pushes him to help her in her desperate attempt to free her people for enslavement.

I went to see this movie because I am a science fiction junkie, but the story is so cohesive and well-grounded that I enjoyed this movie from beginning to the ending credits and would certainly recommend it to everyone! The only thing that might stop young children from seeing this movie is the violence, but everything is clearly fictional, and it's an excellent story with well-developed character.

It's an OK movie with some really spectacular nature shots, but the story is just too much of the same formula used in too many modern films - a boy who's picked on by a group of bullies has to enter a kung fu competition to prove his worth by standing up to his bullies, and I was disappointed by the lackluster acting from Jaden Smith (I know he's just a little kid, but still, with the kind of acting superstardom family he's from, I expected more). Jackie Chan is very good as a handyman/kung fu teacher who is broken down by a family tragedy, and has some fantastic moves throughout the movie, but the part about the fly was gross and totally unnecessarily and some of the scenes showed a lot of unnecessary violence. I wouldn't see it again.

This movie is a really fun trip into a what-if different reality for a single girl who is pining away for her first love and regrets not marrying him. Somehow, she get hit by a car driven by her other self in an alternate reality where the other Pamela is actually married to the guy of her dreams, with children, and she figures out that this other reality is not a dream she thought it would be either. This sweet movie ends on a very nice, optimistic note and makes you think about the best you have in life, whether single or attached, and is a good pick-up on a down day.

Years ago I was addicted to the book of the same name, "Millennium" by John Varley, so when I discovered that it was made into a movie I was really excited. However, I feel that the movie is missing something, although Cheryl Ladd did a great job as the main character Louise Baltimore. Kris Kristofferson was OK, but I think too much was cut out of the story to make much sense.

Because a real science fiction movie is relatively rare to find, I rate this one 4 stars for OK, but if you're really excited about the premise of time travel to save mankind in the future, I would definitely recommend reading the book, it's excellent!

I was lucky to have won tickets to this movie's preview from PBS (thanks so much PaperBack Swap!) and took my family to see it in NYC - what a treat! To be specific, we are a family of three with a teenager in high school, and everybody just loved this beautiful new animated movie that's perfect for all groups. As with all the movies Ghibli Studio produces, this is a rich visual masterpiece that you will really get lost in, with very life-like vegetation and insect life serving as a background for a seemingly simple, but very heartfelt story.

Mr. Miyazaki does not disappoint, retelling the original children's story "Borrowers" by Mary Norton and placing it in the present, with the main characters being Shawn, a sickly boy who is sent to live with his great aunt and her maid Hara, where he discovers a secret family of tiny people that includes husband and wife Pod and Homily and Arrietty, their 13-year-old daughter who is just learning to "borrow," something her kind does to survive. As the story unravels, Arrietty's adventures are highlighted by wonderful scenes of the world from a point of view of a 4-inch tall person.

The ending of this movie does not disappoint either, and I am definitely planning to see this movie several more times with my little nephews, and to buy the DVD when it comes out to add to my already extensive Miyazaki collection. I would definitely recommend this movie, especially to a family with young children!

Love this movie! I was a Star Trek fan way back when I found it in reruns in the early 80's, and when I heard about this new Star Trek movie, I thought no way I would like it, especially considering the low quality of earlier movies, but wow...this one is good, J. J. Abrams did it justice. Especially like the new Spock.

This is a great movie based (I would imagine loosely) on a life of a great person who taught a multitude of kids to dance and about life. Antonio Banderas shines in this role of a ballroom dance teacher who, instead of reporting a teenager he witness vandalizing a car, goes into a public high school and volunteers to lead an after-school detention program. It's a good family film, though it does have some rough language.

Not your average superhero movie, Thor is a really good movie with very good acting, for the most part, although I found Natalie Portman uncharacteristically bland. The story has a few holes, but flows smoothly, depicting the father, Odin, trying to groom his sons Thor and Loki to be a good ruler, and the strain when Loki finds out a family secret that causes him to turn against Thor.

I am not a comic book fan, and went to see this movie with my husband who grew up with Marvel, so I didn't expect much from this stroll into mythology, but I was very pleasantly surprised by Chris Hemsworth's acting, and I am definitely looking forward to seeing him in the Avengers movie coming out in May of 2012.

Love this movie! I am not a big fan of comic books or superhero stories at all, so I surprised myself when I really enjoyed the story line and the great acting by all new and young cast of this "restart" of the X-Men saga, where you learn about the origins of both Professor X (Charles Xavier) and Magneto (Erik Lehnsherr) and how it all began. It's a little surprising to see Kevin Bacon as the really bad guy Sebastian Shaw, but he is also very effective in his role as a head of Hellfire Club that's trying to start a nuclear war and take over the world for the mutants.

The only bad acting was done by January Jones as Emma Frost - really wooden! Otherwise the movie is full of action and interesting characters! If you're an X-Men or Marvel fan, you should not miss this one!